"Preserved" Lemons

Last weekend, a friend made dinner for me.  She made a dish called tagine (or her own version of it).  It's a Moroccan dish that's traditionally a stew cooked in an earthenware, also called tagine.  Her dish was still yummy even though she didn't have any preserved lemons to put into the dish (she just substituted with a lot of lemon juice).  Of course, when she was making it, I thought to myself that I would try to make my own preserved lemons at home (especially since I already had a bag of lemons at home and I came across a blog with a recipe for preserved lemons several weeks ago).  FYI, it's the lemon rind that gets used in the Moroccan dishes.

Many of the recipes I came across require three weeks of preservation before the lemons are "usable." Of course, I really wanted something quicker, so I came across another recipe by Mark Bittman (food critic for The New York Times).  I will also make for myself some traditionally preserved lemons, like I said, I wanted something quicker.

Preserved Lemons

1 pint jar (sterilized)

2 medium lemons (unwaxed or with the wax scrubbed off)

Lots of kosher salt
(Spices--not necessary, but I added a bay leaf and some whole peppercorns)

1.  Slice lemons into thin slices and then in half.  Remove seeds.

2.  Put lemon slices into a bowl and sprinkle salt on top. Layer lemon slices on top and add more salt.
3.  (If using spices, put the spices into the the pint jar.)  Transfer lemon slices and all juices from the lemons into the pint jar.  Push down on lemon slices to extract the lemon juice.

4.  Let the jar sit on the counter or in the refrigerator.  [I intend to use this in a week.  I hope it works.]

According to Mark Bittman's article, if you have waxed lemons, in order to get rid of the wax, "blanch [the waxed lemon in] boiling water for 30 seconds, then rub off the wax with a towel[.]"

Check out the links below for preserved lemon recipes:

Mark Bittman's "Preserved" Lemons:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/dining/20mini.html?_r=1

Other recipes for preserved lemons:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_preserved_lemons/

http://www.gardenbetty.com/2012/02/moroccan-preserved-lemons/

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2006/12/moroccan-preser-1/